Whacking and Stacking 101

The September goose season is in full swing here in NC. HOS brotha's Jonathan Seamon and Joe Finney have excersised thier trigger finegers on more than one occasion while Whacking and Stacking some "honkers." Early mornings,some good calling, and great shooting have paid off as these pics profess. However probably what plays the biggest part in their success is their hard work. These guys burn the roads up during the preseason scouting and finding out what the birds are doing and where they are at. They stop and talk to people and burn the phone lines up getting permission to hunt these places. Then, they go the extra mile to make sure that things are done right on the day of the hunt. These fellas don't just talk about it they work hard to make it possible. You won't find anyone who works harder to make it happen. Jonathan and Joe are staffers for Lodge Creek Calls - check out their wicked Lodge Creek trailer.

"All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty."
Proverbs 14:23

Bret Farve, Picnic Shelters and Jesus...

“It is finally finished!” Those were the words uttered this past Tuesday night as we attached the last piece of metal on the project we were working on. Note the exclamation point at the end of the first sentence. It’s not a “my Lord I’m glad the agony is over” type statement...it’s more like a victorious “Wow, we have accomplished the task set before us.” The Heart of a Sportsman summer mission project this year was to construct a shelter at the Iredell County Fairgrounds. The shelter will be used during the South Yadkin Baptist Association’s ongoing fair ministry, where the workers at the Iredell County Fair will be ministered to by folks from local churches in our association (see previous blog: “From Start to Finish” for pics of the project)
I couldn’t help but say those words (it is finished) when we were packing up the tools. This shelter had been a long time in the making. This project, a brainchild of Sandra Harrison, had been a series of ups and downs for the past several years. Things like: Permission from the county to build the shelter at the site, money, and time. Not to mention Inspectors and building plans. Plans that had to be drawn by highly trained professionals, I might mention. High-tech, highly engineered plans that ended up being much like the ones for a skyscraper in New York City. After looking at the plans, this shelter obviously must have been designed to sustain the strongest hurricane, tornado, flood, and even an earthquake. However, in God’s time He brought it all together...and it was finally finished!
While hanging out with the fellas and eating a hamburger after we were done, one of the guys mentioned that Bret Frarve had just announced that he was coming back...again. If you follow NFL football, you know he retired from the Packers and said his career was finished. Then, he came back to play for the Jets. Again, he said he was finished. But he couldn’t stand it and he is now back in the NFL as the quarterback with the Vikings. Don’t get me wrong, I love Bret Farve and I’m glad he’s back. I just thought he was finished.
Some of the last words that Jesus spoke on the cross were, “It is finished!” It was not a “oh shucks it’s over” statement, but much like us finishing the shelter, it was a victory cry for mission accomplished! In fact the Greek word used here means it is “accomplished.” Jesus had accomplished what He had set out to do. Jesus had completed all that was required by the Father for our salvation. Everything that was needed to atone for our sin, a perfect life of righteousness to present as an atoning sacrifice had been completed. Nothing more was or is needed. No other sacrifice is required. There is absolutely nothing you and I can add to the sacrifice of Christ. There is absolutely nothing you and I can contribute to his sacrifice – Jesus has done it all that is why he said ‘it is finished.’ It’s not a Bret Farve “I am finished” – but a guarantee! In fact you can bet your life on it! All you have to do is decide whether or not to accept His sacrifice. When Jesus said it’s finished, he meant it. However, if you really think about it, Jesus is like Bret Farve in one way for sure; He’s coming back! Coming back for those who are His.
1"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God[a]; trust also in me. 2In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. John 14:1-3

From Start to Finish

2009 Heart of a Sportsman Mission Project
Iredell County Fairgrounds - Shelter Project

Men of the Outdoors - Stanleyville First Baptist

Our buddies up in Forsyth County - Stanleyville Men of the Outdoors (MOTO) - from Stanleyville First Baptist have a blog! I had the opportunity to hang out with these fellas tonight at their weekly meeting. As always I had a blast with these guys. These fellas are a bunch of good ole down home boys who love the outdoors,who love God and love sharing their passion for both.

I'm excited to see what God is doing through this group of men. Keep up with MOTO on their blog - www.menoftheoutdoors.blogspot.com

The 70

Top Picture: Cornerstone Baptist - "Heart of a Sportsman"

Middle Picture: Stanleyville Baptist - "Stanleyville Men of the Outdoors"

Bottom Pictures: Colonial Baptist - "Colonial Outdoors"

You can crack on a man’s pick-up truck, make fun of his coon dog, you might even get by with tellin’ a fella that his mama is looks funny....but don’t ever tell a man that you can catch more catfish than he can. If you do, you’d bess be ready to back it up!
Well, the “Heart of a Sportsman” men at Cornerstone Baptist in Cleveland, NC decided to have a little catfish tournament and sent out a “friendly challenge” (see June 26, 2009 blog post) to the guys at Colonial Baptist Church in Cary, NC and Stanleyville Baptist near Winston-Salem. That’s when and where we found out that you cross the line with an outdoorsman when tellin’ a guy you plan to catch more fish than he does. After all, a man does have his limits and can only take so much! We might have embellished a little on the video challenge we sent the guys, and we might have been a little over dramatic on the consequences of the outcome – BUT it did bring the guys out of the woodwork. I don’t know if it’s true, but I heard that guys cancelled vacations, fixed boats that hadn’t worked in 15 years and practiced for weeks leading up to the event. Whatever the case, on Friday July 24, 2009, 70 men from three churches came together for a great evening of fun, fellowship and fishing.
You might not have caught what I just said so I’ll say it again. 70 men!!! 70 of the baddest, toughest, roughest looking (we like to think of it as ruggedly handsome) country boys from NC that you have ever seen. Hard working men. Regular guys from regular jobs across the state who happen to enjoy their role of highest rung on the food chain by harvesting critters and using them for nourishment.
Impressed by the large number of men at the event, I heard one guy say before we started and after seeing all the boats beached along the shoreline at the tournament that “the night was already a success even if we didn’t wet the first hook.” Another fella said, “it’s awesome to see this many guys who don’t even know each other come together for a night of fellowship.” One church leader said, “Just think, one year ago our guys didn’t even know each other and now we’ve got over 20 dudes together for this event.” That’s what it’s all about. We came together to not only fish but to glorify the one who created the fish, and the lake and the land around the lake: the Almighty God.
Seeing all these men come together made me think of those guys that Jesus used. They were regular men. Many were tough, rugged men - Men who liked to fish – just like these guys. He chose 12 regular men just like this to change the world. Imagine what He can do with 70! It is my prayer that we fish for men as hard as we fish for fish!
God is good all the time...and all the time God is good!



Special congratulations to Brian Cain of Stanleyville Baptist go for the biggest fish of the night (28 pound flat head catfish) and Eddie Ritchie of Cornerstone for the smallest fish (unable to register a weight on the scales). Oh yes, Cornerstone did get lucky and won the Ironman trophy with 98 pounds of cats on the night – but the real trophy was hanging out with 70 cool dudes. Thanks for all the fun...we look forward to doing it again!

That's a Big Check!

A couple of days ago I had the opportunity to meet some really cool folks. Residing in the hills of northwest NC, they call themselves the Tri-County Ridge Runners, and are a chapter of the NWTF. These guys and gals where my kind of folks...they love youngans, they love hunting (especially shooting tukeys in the head), t
hey genuinly care about others (and teaching them to shoot turkeys in the head), and best of all they love Jesus. In fact this particular chapter, drawing hunters from Surry, Wilkes and Yadkin Counties, was formed with the particular interest in mind of promoting Christian ethics.

The Tri-County Ridge Runners have joined the effort to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ through a creative evangelistic DVD, that revolves around what else...but turkey hunting. It's a perfect fit for these folks. The DVD is called "Lord of the Spring" and will debut at the 2010 NWTF Convention in Nashville, TN.

On the night that these folks let me hang out with them they presented the "Lord of the Spring Project" with a check for $1,000 to be used to purchase DVD's to be given away at the convention. Special thanks to Keith Hutchison and Lee Freeman (pictured above)for casting the vision and for the rest of the chapter for the support, not only in conservation of our wonderful natural resources and passing on our sporting heritage, but most of all caring about where people spend eternity! These guys work together and get things done...May God Bless their efforts!

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

NEW Lodge Creek Logo

There are a lot of catchy slogans in the outdoor industry. "Speak the Language" by Primos, "Catch us if you can" by Matthews, and "Bad to the Bone" by Muzzy Broadheads. But one of the coolest on the market is "When we call, Nature Answers" by our buddies at Lodge Creek Calls. Mark McDowell and his pro- staffers have put out a new cutting edge logo for thier products. We thought we'd give you a peak at what it looked like even before they get it on their website. Check out their entire line of products at www.lodgecreekcalls.com. Their calls sound WICKED!!!